Prospective and comparative study between cefuroxime, ceftriaxone and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
Sánchez, M.E.; Gómez, J.; Gómez Vargas, J.; Baños, V.; Ruiz Gómez, J.; Muñoz, L.; Simarro, E.; Soto, M.C.; Canteras, M.; Valdés, M.
Revista Espanola de Quimioterapia Publicacion Oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia 11(2): 132-138
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0214-3429 PMID: 9795298 Document Number: 487607
Among community-acquired infections, pneumonia is still a large health problem which is of great interest mainly due its high mortality and morbidity. From 1991 to 1997, 409 patients who had been diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia and had been admitted to the internal medicine service of a university hospital were prospectively studied. The patients were classified into three groups according to the random antibiotic treatment they had received (ceftriaxone, cefuroxime or amoxicillin-clavulanic acid). The initial characteristics of the patients with regard to epidemiology, clinical description and critical situation were similar in all the groups studied. A total of 36.9% of the cases were documented microbiologically, with the most frequently isolated pathogens being Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. The recovery rate was 92.2% and three patients had a recurrence of pneumonia. Global mortality was 5.8%. No statistically significant differences were found in the evolution of patients treated with cefuroxime, ceftriaxone or amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, with the latter representing an empirical treatment of choice for community-acquired pneumonia.